The World Wrestling Entertainment Name Change History

Back in 2002, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) underwent a number of transitions before becoming the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) brand that we know today. Here's a brief guide to exactly how and why such changes took place.

Back in 2000, the World Wide Fund for Nature, who also used the abbreviation 'WWF', took out a lawsuit again the World Wrestling Federation. It was eventually rules that the WWF trademark belonged to the environmental group, and the wrestling organisation launched its "Get The F Out" marketing campaign, changing all references on its website from to 'WWE'. The site URL was also changed from WWF.com to WWE.com. This was a big step for a brand whose site had become as popular as many other instantly recognisable URLs, like es.partypoker.com and hotmail.com. A press release then announced the official name change from to 'World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.', or WWE.

At this time, he previously used 'Attitude logo' also became prohibited on all World Wrestling Federation properties. However, it was not until 2011 that the company announced an official re-branding, which dropped the World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. title altogether, to become, simply, WWE. This decision was said to have been made in order to reflect the organization's worldwide expansion plans. It would also fall in line with the company's future plans of launching a WWE television network, which is currently expected to take place from 2012 onward.

There has also been a significant extension during this time, which falls in line with this name change. The 'Raw' and 'Smackdown' branches were both announced as being a 'WWE Brand Extension' just months before the official name change, whilst the relaunch of the Extreme Championship Wrestling franchise also took place under the WWE brand name.